February 27, 1937
THE STATE
Page Seven
Dr. Griggs9 Unique Practice
FOR many years he has been serving the
people of Currituck and llare counties. His
entire life has been dedicated to helping
the people in those sections.
tty II. S. !40EL
Editor
о
1 “Tile and Till”
M
ГАВТНЛ,
hang
л
towel on
the mail bo* so Dr. Griggs'll
l Mop. Grandma’s havin’ one
of her hrnrt spell* agin." Thus is
the doctor apprised of the need for
his service* along the forty-mile
C’ssula ofl the const of North Caro-
just south of the Virginia-Caro-
lina state line.
What of Dr. Griggs! Who is ho?
Many interesting stories are told of
hi* services to the inhabitant* of this
rather bleak and dreary section. Dr.
Griggs live* halfway down the pen¬
insula in the quiet little village of
I’oplar il ranch. His office hour* are
unusual, 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. daily. To
reach Poplar Branch you drive south
from Norfolk through the villages of
Moyock, Sligo, Currituck, and Coin-
jock to Poplar Branch, then to
Point Harbor and acre*- a three-mile
bridge over beautiful Currituck
Sound and through an arch bearing
the inscription :
“15S3 Birthplace of a Nation
1903 Birthplace of Aviation."
You are now at North Carolina’s
outer border, a reef of sand brought
down by the rivers and tossed back
by conflicting tides and wind- to form
great sand dunes called Kill Devil
Hills and made famous by the Wright
brother* in their first airplane flight.
You follow the shore past Kitty Hawk
and Nag* Head, acro-s another bridge
to historic Roanoke Island and Fort
Raleigh, where was planted the first
English colony in the western world.
Some years ago, before the roads
were paved, I left Norfolk at four
o’clock in the morning, and if the roads
were in good condition and the fog
not too heavy, I stood a fair chance
of catching Dr. Griggs before he
started down the peninsula on hi*
daily round of calls.
Born in Currituck
Dr. Griggs was born in Currituck
County, North Carolina, one of a
large family. He attended the Uni¬
versity of Virginia School of Medi¬
cine, graduating in 1596.
П«
plan
was to join the Navy, but, bis father
bring ill, he came home and attended
him until his death seven years later.
During this time I>r. Griggs had built
up
а тегу
good practice, so he decided
to remain.
Beginning his practice. Dr. Griggs
drove a mule and cart to attend the
needs of 3,000 people living along the
peninsula and over on the beaches
across the Sound. Aa calls came from
greater distances he used a horso and
buggy, then a double team, then si*
horses and three buggies, keeping a
fresh tram at different points along
the road. At that time two colored
drivers wero employed to take care
of the horse* and equipment and do
the driving. Following a rather dis¬
astrous runaway in 1907, Dr. Griggs
decided to buy an automobile.
His First Auto
A salesman from Norfolk, hearing
Dr. Griggs was a prospective buyer,
brought an International Harvester
machine down for demonstration.
After successfully completing a day’s
trip, two of the machine* were pur¬
chased at a price of $1.000 each. They
were equipped with high winds with
hard rubber tire*, two cylinders with
pistons as ‘large as a telephone post.”
ehajn drive on each rear wheel, the
engine being under tbe machine. The
speed was about fifteen mile, per hour
by following in wagon tracks. Even
at that speed the folk, along the way
would remark. "I)r. Griggs passed here
fairly flying."
The advent of the automobile did
not entirely replace the horses, for
even though two mechanic* were em¬
ployed, often loth cars were out of
order. These mechanics had been sent
to Washington, at the expense of Dr.
Griggs, for training in repair work,
a period of three months being used
bv one of them. In 1913 the doctor
purchased his first Ford and since that
lime has worn out numerous ears of
different make*. He now doc* all his
own driving, un average of 3,900 miles
each month. He estimate* the total
mile* traveled in his thirty-nine years
of practice to equal forty-five lime*
around the world.
Asked how be happened to suggest
a towel on a post or mail bo* for a
signal, be said that when he first
started practice he called on a boy
who was seriously ill. Later, on hi*
way back up the road, he noticed a
white table cloth flying from the mail
box, but not attacking any particular
significance to it be did not stop. The
boy’s mother, anxiously watching, -aw
him pawing and called, asking if he
did not sec the signal. Dr. Griggs re¬
lated the incident to other, and
gradually they all took it up and still
use a towel by day and a lantern after
dark. People living on *ide roads
and bark off the main highway get their
neighbors on the paved road to hang
out the signal and tell the doctor,
when hn stops, that Mr. or Mrs. So-
and-So i* "bad off,” or Jim’» boy
knocked a big "lladget" of skin off his
leg and wants it dressed.
Arrow Currituck Sound, along the
leach, live a number of people whose
occupation is fidiing. There are no
roads, but those who have automo¬
biles drive NMOesufuIy on tlic sandy
beach by using very little air in tlic
tires. They Usually meet tho doctor
at the bridge, where he leaves his
own car, thus saving him the trouble
of deflating his tires ansi having to
pump them up again. Before the
bridge was construct cl they eamo
arros* in a boat. This being a slow
trip they usually had a pallet in one
end of the boat so tbc doctor could
sleep while crowir.g. One night a,
he wn* landing, still half asleep, lie
turned to the right in place of walk¬
ing straight ahead and stepped off
the dock into deep water. He swam
(Continued on page twenty)